Online iPad 2 Order Ship Times: 3 Weeks

Apple began accepting orders for the iPad 2 at its online store at 4AM eastern time on Friday, and ship dates are already pushed out to two to three weeks. The long ship times apply to all iPad 2 models, including AT&T and Verizon-compatible 3G versions.

Along with the extended ship times for the just released second generation iPad, Apple is limiting online purchases to two units per order.

Apple’s iPad 2

Apple introduced the new iPad 2 at a special media event earlier this month. The new models are available in black or white, sport a dual-core A5 processor, front and rear-facing digital cameras, a built-in gyroscope, a thinner body, and more.

Customers that don’t want to wait up to three weeks for their new iPad to arrive can visit their local Apple Store, as Walmart, Best Buy, Target, AT&T and Verizon stores, and some Authorized Apple Resellers. The iPad 2 will be available at 5PM local time in stores on Friday, March 11.

I woke up at 3:00 PDT to place an order and got an interesting result. Placed an order, it said 5-7 days in the cart, and in my confirmation email. Immediately realized that in my mind-fogged early morning state that I’d ordered the wrong model, so went back, canceled, and reordered. By then, estimates were 2-3 weeks. Bummer!

Stranger than that, though, is that the email confirmation and order status online are no longer giving ranges. 5-7 days in the cart was 5-7 days in the order confirmation. 2-3 weeks in the cart is “April 1”. Do they really know that?